If one person fits the bill for the phrase, “You are a product of your environment,” it’s Texas designer Teddie Garrigan, whose home in Texas is proof. Though the designer will admit she can appreciate pretty much all aesthetics, she has a soft spot for a very specific look: “Because of the way I was raised, I’m drawn to a mix of European and a very Southern aesthetic, where it’s all based on hospitality, family, and actually living in your home.” More than anything, she insists, she’s a traditionalist at heart, and nowhere is that more evident than in the designer’s living spaces.
Plus, she, like plenty of designers, wants her home to be a reflection of its residents, not the other way around. That is, quite literally, by design. “We are very casual people. Your feet have to be able to go up on anything and you have to be able to sit on anything,” she says. “There’s nothing that’s off-limits to anyone—our grandchildren or adults.”
Ahead, check out the spaces that exemplify Garrigan’s approach to cozy design that does not skimp on style the most: her living spaces, which include her formal living room, her husband’s study, and what she calls “the morning room.”
Explore more home tours below.
- The Secret to This 1910 London Home? Not Everything Is as Old as It Looks
- How to Make a New-Build Home Look Old—According to an Expert Who Did It
- A Beacon Hill Bookshop Owner Invites Us Inside Her Late-1800s Townhouse
Where Books and Art Happily Collide
If there is one place where even the apartments are enormous, it’s Texas. Case in point: Garrigan’s high-rise apartment, which houses a living space with two 30-foot-long walls. What’s more, she managed to fill out that wall space without having to decide between built-in bookshelves and her art collection. “And God love [my husband] because he lets me hang my art over his bookcases,” she says. “He collects books and I collect art, so that’s how we come together with it.”
The hero of the space, though, is the custom Coco & Dash sofa that’s covered in a lush green velvet. “You cannot go wrong with a green velvet. Green is my favorite color and to me, green velvet in a room just adds such a wonderful, uplifting feeling to a space,” Garrigan says. “And we did these custom pillows and, of course, the ubiquitous tiger pillows.”
More Pattern, More Personality
Garrigan’s living room is so big that it functions like a classic Great Room complete with a dining nook and library. “The primary piece, I would say, in this room is this cabinet from Nick Brock here in Dallas,” she notes. “I love the detail in this, and it is a workhorse of a piece.” And since the dining table is just beside it, Garrigan keeps all of her China and serving pieces in it.
A Small Room With a Big Point of View
Garrigan’s “morning room,” as she calls it is proof that bigger isn’t always better. It’s a smaller room and tends to be her guests’ favorite space in the whole home. It may be mostly blue and white, but green is definitely the chief color, courtesy of the antique cabinet filled with malachite. And yes, this room is as comfortable as it looks; probably because it used to be the dining room and ow it’s only purpose is to offer a smaller, more intimate sitting room.
A Guest Room Turned Gentleman’s Study
Garrigan has a thing for swapping a room’s original purpose for another. This room, for instance, used to be the guest room and now, it’s her husband’s study. “There’s another green velvet sofa because you can’t go wrong with them, and we did these chairs that are replicas of the ones from F.D.R.’s yacht when he was president.” While this space’s aesthetic pairs well with that of the rest of the home, it does boast a slightly more masculine feel that is definitely Franklin Delano Roosevelt-coded. “This room to me is really special and it’s very masculine. I love coming in here,” Garrigan adds.
